It’s that time of year. Every major city is planning a huge fireworks display, and photographers of every stripe are trying to photograph them. All you need is a camera with the ability to hold the shutter open for long periods of time, a steady tripod, and a remote release to trigger your shutter.
I personally don’t like to shoot just bursts of fireworks – I try to always include some type of landmark in my fireworks shots – the shot above was taken in 2006 during Fireworks night at Shea Stadium. I was able to meter my shot by the lights of the stadium, and then tried to time the burst of the fireworks…
This shot on the left was taken during the school carnival at my church – I knew from previous carnivals the approximate spot that the fireworks would go off, and tried to align the steeple of the church in the right spot.
Below is one of my favorites – this was shot in 2006, and I went over to New Jersey to try and get a different view of Manhattan and the Macy’s fireworks show. Here, I metered so the top of the empire state building would not be washed out, and just let the shutter fly…
